Ria Lakshman

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Ria Lakshman

About the author: An astute writer with a track record in writing and publishing content for various industries, Ria brings on board her wealth of experience in journalism and love for technology to TelecomTalk. When not writing or reading, she spends a copious amount of time daydreaming and finding obscure Japanese folklore on the internet.

Ria Lakshman May 22nd, 2015 4:02 PM 19 COMMENTS

Installation of new mobile towers can only solve call drop issue, says Telecom Minister

In response to the heated debate on frequent call drops, which is found to be occurring in different telecom circles irrespective of the telecom operator, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad argues that the situation will not improve unless new mobile towers are allowed to come up. Moreover, the Minister also said that the debates against installation of mobile towers in the name of radiation harm is ‘wrong’ and ‘uncalled for’.... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 22nd, 2015 3:14 PM 2 COMMENTS

Net Neutrality: CCI waits for TRAI’s recommendations to proceed, Parliamentary meeting turns dubious

Competition Commission of India (CCI) reiterates their stand to wait for the recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to scrutinize net neutrality issue, says it Chairman Ashok Chawla. According to Chawla, the issue of net neutrality is a policy issue and it is not something can be decided without understanding the stand of TRAI in the case. “The regulator has to decide first. Based on whatever happens in... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 22nd, 2015 2:20 PM 4 COMMENTS

Citizens deserve to get the actual internet speed for what they pay for: Canada, Indian regulators are you listening ?

In a brilliant move to measure the performance of home broadband internet speeds, especially to verify if they match the actual speed as the operators advertise, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) volunteer the citizens to come forward and participate in testing internet speeds across Canada. In the venture, around 10 service providers are participating, including Bell, Bell Aliant, Cogeco, Eastlink, Videotron, Rogers, Shaw, Telus, Northwestel and MTS Alstream.... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 21st, 2015 10:45 PM 32 COMMENTS

Vodafone customer points out anomaly in billing mobile internet services, a user experience

Vodafone was found charging a customer luxuriously for using data on his mobile, reveals a user-experience. Aseem Manchanda, a reputed journalist who worked with firms like Zee Business, India TV and BBC World Services is the victim of the case. Mr. Manchanda, a decade long Vodafone user activated Blackberry 399 unlimited plan before three years during which he found discrepancies in his billing. On... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 21st, 2015 6:40 PM 7 COMMENTS

25 cities in India may not get free Wi-Fi as promised : Report

There are chances the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will withdrew its plan to set up Wifi hotspots in 25 cities, as it is viewed to be too expensive, sources reveal Live mint. DoT may find other means to implement the same. For the current plan to take shape, DoT would need to spend Rs. 10,000 crores for installation and another Rs. 2000 crores for the first five years maintenance. The... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 21st, 2015 5:32 PM 2 COMMENTS

Only 1% of total mobile Internet users in India are over 50 years, says study

The senior citizens of India are not tech savvy, says a study released by Telenor. Titled as ‘The unconnected senior citizens of Asia’, Telenor conducted a study among four major countries of Asia -- India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia, the data of which indicates that the senior citizens of these nations constitute as little as two percent of the active mobile users, with still fewer using smartphones. According to the... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 21st, 2015 4:44 PM 37 COMMENTS

Reliance Jio fastens the processes for 4G launch

Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) fast tracks the process of rolling out 4G by setting up necessary infrastructure across 880 cities and towns across India. A large number of distributors and retailers are roped in for the purpose. The company is also focusing on building a robust customer care for the service, reports Deccan Chronicle. According to the annual report released, RJIL is recruiting human resources to work across the... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 21st, 2015 10:44 AM 13 COMMENTS

Vodafone call drop issues to be fixed soon, Vodafone CEO calls Airtel Zero criticisms as ‘trivial’

Vodafone subscribers, mainly from Delhi circles were reporting call drop issues for past few days. The company reports the issue to be that of frequency change and promised it to be resolved at the earliest. “The issue mainly concerns the Delhi service area, not entire India. The reason for this problem is frequency change. Last November, our license for 20 years expired and our frequency got changed,” Vodafone Managing Director... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 20th, 2015 6:21 PM 14 COMMENTS

Call tariff hike of 20 percent can be expected due to auctions : Report

In lieu of the auctions, telecom operators in Gujarat may decide to increase the voice call charges by 9 paise per minute, which will constitute around 20 percent hike over the next few months, reports Economic Times (ET). In the spectrum auction to renew 900MHz spectrum, the telecom operators spent between Rs. 3000 crore to Rs. 7000 crore in circles like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP-East and UP-West. The... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 20th, 2015 2:47 PM 19 COMMENTS

Vodafone 4G services to roll out in India by second half of 2015

A few selected cities in the country will get Vodafone 4G services by the second half of this year, reports Business Today. The company will be rolling out 4G in five cities, where it won 5MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz band, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Karnataka and Kerala. Besides, the company has also planned to expand its services in the North East. "We are conducting 4G trials and plan to... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 20th, 2015 6:39 AM 0 COMMENTS

Four new channels received clearance from MIB

Four new channels – ETV Plus, ETV Life, ETV Abhiruchi and Vedas OM TV have received clearance from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to launch in 2015. All of them are given uplinking permission. According to the data, 697 channels are allowed to uplink and downlink from within the country. 40 channels are uplinked from India, for beaming overseas. 93 channels are uplinked from overseas and are downlinked into... Read More

Ria Lakshman May 19th, 2015 10:26 PM 8 COMMENTS

Vodafone India registers a growth of 12.6 percent, 19.4 million 3G users

Vodafone India is the second largest MNC in India with a revenue of INR 42,352 crores in FY 2015, registering a growth of 12.6 percent, according to the Full Year Results (IFRS) released by the company. Its EBITDA stood at INR 12,605 crores. The company’s Operating Free Cash Flow (OFCF) stood at INR 3,228 crores in FY15 compared to INR 7,647 crores in FY14. High intensity of capex spend is... Read More